Newcastle United had agreed a deal with Leicester City to take midfielder Hamza Choudhury on loan for the rest of the season on deadline day, before complications at boardroom level with Watford prevented the deal from happening.
Steve Bruce had been keen to add to his midfield options in January and, despite having managed to secure the signing of Joe Willock on loan from Arsenal, the Magpies also wanted to take Choudhury from Leicester. It is reported that a deal had been struck between the two clubs and the midfielder had also agreed to move to St James’ Park, according to Football Insider.
However, the deal was thwarted due to friction between the respective hierarchies at Newcastle and Watford. The Hornets were involved in the transfer saga due to Leicester’s wishes to sign Nathaniel Chalobah from them before allowing Choudhury to move, and that deal was agreed between the two sides, per Football Insider.
Watford were aiming to sign Matty Longstaff from Newcastle as Chalobah’s replacement, but the Magpies blocked that move from taking place due to the fractured relationship between themselves and the Championship club’s hierarchy, with a source telling Football Insider that boardroom relations between the Magpies and Hornets are “dreadful”. That prompted a domino effect which meant the deals for Choudhury and Chalobah could not get over the line, according to Football Insider.
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It seemed clear that the issue preventing Newcastle from signing Choudhury on deadline day was Leicester’s failure to bring in a replacement, and therefore they did not want to risk leaving themselves short on cover. That decision has been vindicated on the Foxes’ part by the 23-year-old starting their last two games against Fulham and Wolves.
It is interesting, though, that Newcastle did not allow Longstaff to join Watford because of a fractured relationships between the two clubs. It had seemed like the Magpies had just decided to keep hold of him because he was not part of the 25-man squad anyway and so he did not need to be moved on to free up space, but that appears to just have been part of the reason now.
Choudhury might feel that it is a good thing he remained with Leicester now having got himself back into the side, but for Newcastle, it is a frustration they could not get the player who had clearly been their main target all window.
